In Stark Contrast
by Still Stream
Summary: The theft of an important piece of technology results in Seto Kaiba being forced to work with fellow genius billionaire Tony Stark to retrieve what was taken from both of their companies. Takes place years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

Author Notes:

This entire story sprung from a joke between me and a friend. Being long time fans of Yu-Gi-Oh, we were talking about how Seto Kaiba (in the anime, anyway) is kind of sort of an anime version of Tony Stark. Just replace the powered suit with card games.

I thought to myself: What if Seto Kaiba ever met Tony Stark? And that's how the idea for this story got started.

The Tony Stark featured in this story is from the Iron Man anime (Madhouse, 2010) with some elements taken from the movie canon to fill in some gaps. But for the most part, the Tony in this story is from the anime universe. The Iron Man anime's story premise has Tony Stark move to Japan in order to establish an experimental power station based on the arc reactor. It has some new original characters, such as Dr. Tanaka, a brilliant scientist who assists Tony in working on the Arc Reactor Station.

I'm going off of the anime's (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) canon, as much as I love the manga's canon.

Anyway, this is getting too long. Any additional notes will go at the end of this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: I don't claim to own either series

**Rating**: PG-13

**Summary**: The theft of an important piece of technology results in Seto Kaiba being forced to work with fellow genius billionaire Tony Stark to retrieve what was taken from both of their companies. Takes place years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters.

* * *

**In Stark Contrast - Chapter 1 "Prologue"  
**

"Target spotted. Closing in."

The countryside road below snaked along, black against a sea of dark green trees. Cruising along this road was a small grey truck, nothing more than a pebble in the sea at this distance. The truck was traveling about 125 kilometers per hour – hardly a speed for a leisurely stroll at night. Visibility was still relatively poor despite the moon being out. Way out in the country like this, there wasn't much in the way of street lights, either.

Not that this was a problem for Tony Stark.

"Looks like they're in a hurry. Gee, wonder why."

He'd already scoped out the terrain up ahead. He knew for a fact that the road below continued through a tunnel pass through a mountain. Once the truck reached that point, Tony planned to strike.

A female voice spoke up over the suit's radio. "Mr. Stark, please don't do anything reckless."

"Worried about me, Dr. Tanaka?"

"More like I'm worried about that tunnel up ahead…"

"Don't worry, I won't do anything too drastic." How sincere he was on that, well, Tony wouldn't say.

"If you say so, Mr. Stark. I am aware that what those men are carrying is valuable. But please, be care-"

"Sorry, but I'll have to cut you off in a second. I'll be fine. Just make sure you get a Lab 23 crew out there in the next 20 minutes, okay?" He shut off the transmission.

The truck was currently about 300 meters from the tunnel entrance, which gave Tony just enough time to drop in behind them. Dropping altitude quickly, he began his pursuit. By the time the truck had entered the tunnel, he was about 200 meters behind. His window of opportunity to get this right was pretty small.

Tony opened his armored right hand and took careful aim. As the green crosshair on his suit's display locked on, he fired two repulsor blasts at the truck's tires. The tires immediately exploded, sending the truck spinning into one of the tunnel's walls.

Within seconds, two men in brown coats and low-hanging caps leapt out of the now smoking truck. Tony deftly landed on the side of the road opposite the truck – a safe enough distance from which to see what they'd do but close enough to give him options. They'd either run or fight.

Just then, he spotted one of the men pull an AR-15 rifle from within his oversized coat.

Fight it was, then.

Before the man even had time to properly aim, Tony had one armored hand on the gun's barrel. With one simple motion, he tore it from the man's hand.

"These things're dangerous, you know."

The man made a move to run, but Tony shoved him back onto the ground with one armored hand. "This'll only tickle, I promise." He grabbed the man's shoulder and sent an electric shock running through him. Just enough to knock him out. The built-in taser was one of Tony's favorite new additions he'd made to the suit.

By this point, the other man was practically out of the tunnel. Tony sighed before beginning his pursuit. His propulsion system versus this guy's legs wasn't much of a contest, but once the guy got out of the tunnel, his options for escape became far more numerous and tedious to deal with.

As Tony caught up with his target, he extended his right arm. The result was a high-speed closeline that sent the man toppling forward. A bit rougher than he'd have liked, but his speed wasn't nearly enough to crack the guy's skull or anything. As he picked up the man's now limp body, Tony checked his pulse just to make sure. Probably a good idea to get them to a hospital before handing them over to the police.

A few minutes later, Tony had the two men safely secured and restrained. With everything wrapped up, it was time to check back in with Dr. Tanaka.

"Dr. Tanaka, how far is the Lab 23 crew from my location right now?" Tony looked towards the end of the tunnel the truck had entered through.

"About 10 kilometers… they should be there soon."

"Good. In the mean time, I'll take a look at the truck's cargo."

"Understood. I'm sure you're tired of me saying this, but do be careful. Who knows what else they might have stolen…"

"Hopefully nothing explosive. That'd just ruin this wonderful evening."

Dr. Tanaka responded with an exasperated sigh. "I'll alert the authorities as well, Mr. Stark."

"Thanks, Dr. Tanaka." Tony cut off the call.

By the time that the Lab 23 crew arrived at the site, Tony had already gone through most of the truck's cargo. Much to his dismay, what he'd been looking for was nowhere to be found. However, he had found something else interesting…

"Dr. Tanaka?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"I'll be returning to the lab soon. Sorry to ask this of you when it's so late like this, but there's something I'd like for you to take a look at…"

"What is it?"

Tony held up the circuit board in his armored hand. "Some kind of chip, but I'm not familiar with the make. The suit can't match it with anything, either."

"Alright, I'll have a look at it when you return."

The only text printed on the chip besides some serial number information was what Tony assumed to be a logo of some kind. The letters "KC."

**...**

If there was one department in his company that Seto Kaiba wouldn't mind throwing out onto the street some day, it was his public relations team. They wasted their time with details he really couldn't care less about, had a knack for asking him the most idiotic questions, and if they ever came up with an original idea between the five of them, Kaiba would be honestly surprised. He gazed down the black, square marble table at the array of papers that had been arranged by the team for the meeting. There were tournament logistics and diagrams of Domino City's Kaiba Land printed on most. He'd reviewed them all already, but he supposed they liked to feel that they were getting more accomplished by wasting paper like this.

The head of his PR team, a nervous-looking man with light brown hair in a suit that was about one and a half sizes too big for him, stood at the opposite end of the table. He cleared his throat before addressing Kaiba. "In regard to the charity contest's prize, Mr. Kaiba, I was thinking we could make the prize the latest model of the Duel Disk."

Kaiba knew the man's name, but his meetings with him often didn't require that he actually use it. And so he didn't.

"The next model of the Duel Disk won't be ready for at least another six months. The design hasn't been finalized, and the software for it isn't even close to finished," Kaiba answered in an almost bored tone from his seat at the opposite end of the table. He'd been through this with them before. "I've already said that the prize should be a set of rare cards, which I've already provided."

"But Mr. Kaiba," another member of the PR team spoke up. "I'm not sure if that prize alone would be enough to attract a large amount of donations."

"How about an opportunity to contribute to designing a game for the company?" Another team member suggested.

Kaiba smirked. "Try running that by the game software team. I'm sure they'd be _thrilled_."

The man who'd asked the question abruptly shut up.

The brunet in the black suit spoke up again. "How about a year-long free pass to Kaiba Land?"

Yet another member of the team jumped into the conversation. "Then we'd end up cutting down on the pool of potential donors."

"The cards aren't much better if you think about that. Not all of the potential donors would be duelists." The brunet reached for one of the piles of paper in front of him on the table. "Where did you put the statistics for Domino City's Kaiba Land attendees for last year? I'm pretty sure they included data on attendees' ages…"

A heated argument sprung up between the team members, at which point Kaiba casually tuned out of the conversation. One of the sheets of paper sitting a few feet away on the table had caught his eye.

_Seventh Anniversary Battle City Special Tournament_, it read.

Kaiba stared at the printed text on the page as the full meaning of the words sunk in. He knew, of course, that it had been 7 years since Battle City. He was well aware of the date, and Battle City wasn't something he could easily forget. Even so, he'd never really thought about the implications of that passage of time until now. Kaiba wasn't the sentimental type, and any type of anniversary – his own birthday included – didn't really mean much to him. And yet, thinking back on everything now made him realize that the past 7 years had gone by quickly.

He _had_ been busy. After he'd returned to the US from his impromptu trip to Egypt, Kaiba Corp's stock was still uncomfortably low. The KC Grand Prix as a promotion had helped, but he'd still had work to do. From that day forward, he'd devoted the entirety of his time to his company and to his brother. For once, he didn't have to worry about saving his brother or his company or the world itself (the ridiculousness of that last point never failed to bother him).

Maybe that was why the years had seemed to pass by so quickly – they had been some of the most peaceful years of his life. Even before Yugi and… the other Yugi (the fact that his rival had been the spirit of an Egyptian pharaoh from 3000 years ago was a detail he preferred not to dwell on) had crossed his path, Kaiba had been no stranger to constant struggle and strife. Life was a battle – a fact that he'd learned and accepted very early on.

After he'd watched the one and only person he had ever considered worthy enough to be his rival walk through a door into what was apparently the afterlife (another detail that bothered him when he dwelled on it too much), his life had entered a long, sustained period of calm. He'd no longer had someone to constantly compete against. And honestly, none of his business rivals could ever compare to the other Yugi. Kaiba Corp had pretty much dominated the game industry for these past 7 years. Its stock price was currently holding steady at 10% over last year's price.

On the one hand, the peace had given him the luxury of spending more time with Mokuba. And nothing could make him ever give up something like that. On the other hand, I had resulted in a persistent sense of restlessness in the back of his mind that Kaiba could never quite shake off. Living like this was supposed to be something to enjoy, wasn't it? Thinking about how restless he felt almost made him laugh. It was only when things were going well that he felt off-kilter. As much of a control freak as people accused him of being, Kaiba felt the most alive when he was fighting to gain control of a situation, whether it be in a duel or in something with much higher stakes. Winning was satisfying, but only when it was earned.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

His entire PR team was focused on him, now. Kaiba flicked his gaze from the sheet of paper he was still holding to them. Their collective flinch was all he needed to confirm that he'd generated the desired effect. Useless idiots that they were, he couldn't let them think he wasn't paying attention during a meeting.

"Make the prize for the winner an option, then." Kaiba waved the paper at them dismissively. "The rare card set, a year-long pass to a Kaiba Land of their choosing, or stock options for all I care. Last year's donations were higher than expected and all we offered was a rare card set. Clearly that prize is sufficient. But if you want to change things up, then fine." He sat back in his chair calmly. "The rest of the tournament details are finalized, aren't they?"

The team nodded in unison.

"Good, then we're done. I have a meeting with R&D and you're wasting enough of my time as it is." He laid the sheet of paper down on the table to add emphasis to his statement.

"Y-yes, Mr. Kaiba." The head of PR bowed quickly and began gathering up the papers in front of him. The other men joined him, and within a minute or two, they were filing out of the room.

In truth, Kaiba had about a half hour before his meeting with R&D. He'd just had enough of his PR team for the day. As the thought of finally replacing them entered his mind, the meeting room's door opened again.

A petite woman with long, black hair in a black and white skirt suit sidled in between the room's two large wooden doors.

"Mr. Kaiba, there's a call for you from Mr. Nakajima at Nakajima Silicon Works. He says it's urgent."

Still seated at the head of the table, Kaiba regarded his executive assistant silently. He hadn't been expecting a call from Nakajima for another day. "Transfer it to my cell phone."

"Yes sir."

By the time his phone started vibrating, Kaiba was already holding it to his ear. "Nakajima."

The man on the other end of the line's anxiousness was plain in his voice. "Mr. Kaiba… I, um. Unfortunately, I have some bad news."

Kaiba didn't like where this was going. "Just get to the point. I don't have time for guessing games."

"The shipment of those custom D-90 chips we were sending to you… They were, well… the shipment appears to have been lost."

The plastic Blue Eyes White Dragon phone case (it had been a present from Mokuba for his last birthday) made a cracking noise in protest as Kaiba's grip on his phone tightened. "What do you mean by 'lost'? It's hardly a two day trip from Nagoya to Domino! That's not a difficult trip for any courier."

"We've never had this happen before! Our courier's never lost a single package, and they reported that all of the other cargo they were transporting at the time was fine."

"So what you're saying is," Kaiba's voice remained calm, though the anger simmering underneath was all too clear, "you aren't competent enough to get a shipment of computer hardware to my company a few hundred kilometers away."

"No! We're still waiting for details from the courier, but they believe it was theft-"

"Which would mean that your courier isn't as secure as you claimed."

"As I said before, Mr. Kaiba, this has never happened before-"

"Then make sure your courier gets to the bottom of this. Or I'll find another chip manufacturer that knows how NOT to lose a shipment worth millions of dollars."

The other end of the line went silent for a few moments. When Mr. Nakajima spoke again, he sounded defeated. "We will let you know the second that we hear back from the courier. We apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Kaiba."

"Hmph." Mr. Nakajima had seemed like such a competent business partner up until now."Those 16 were the only ones produced." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. It would take another three months to prepare another batch of that model."

"Then start preparing now. Your company won't be getting any kind of payment until the entire chipset is delivered to my building. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba could practically hear Mr. Nakajima cringing on the other end. Clearly his threat had gotten through loud and clear. "Good. Let me know as soon as you hear from your courier."

"Of course, Mr. Kaiba… I will let you know the second they get back to me."

"Good." Kaiba ended the call and jammed his phone back into his suit pocket before turning towards the windows behind him. A breathtaking view of Domino City spread out before the window. The view was furthest from his mind at the moment, however.

It wasn't the cost of the chips that bothered him. They were insured, and the agreement was to pay Nakajima in full after they were delivered. The fact that the package addressed to his company had been the only thing lost was what bothered him. Theft was the most likely explanation, which meant that someone had targeted that hardware specifically. The only question left was, "Why?"

Corporate espionage wasn't entirely out of the question, nor was it something Kaiba was unfamiliar with. But that meant that whoever stole them had some idea of what they were intended for. The only individuals who knew anything about the D-90 Project were himself, his R&D department, Mr. Nakajima, and a team of engineers that worked under him at Nakajima Silicon Works. It narrowed down the list of suspects, at least, but possibilities weren't what he needed right now. What he needed was definitive information on just what had happened to the shipment.

He strode past the meeting room table, through the room's two large doors, and out into the hall. The meeting room was just a short walk down the hall from his own office. As he headed for his office, he passed by the reception area where his three executive assistants sat assembled around the entrance to his office like troops guarding their general's encampment.

"Nanako," he called out as he strode past her desk.

The same woman who had entered the meeting room answered. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Cancel my meeting with R&D. Send up the director instead. Now."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

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Comments/reviews are welcome. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 - Holograms

Author Notes:

Sorry for taking so long to get to this chapter. I've been working on it for months, tweaking it little by little. There were just some scenes I wasn't happy with at all and it took me tons of rewrites until I was happy with them. But thankfully I finally managed to write them in a way I felt moved the fic along in a meaningful away.

Also, this past semester has been one of the busiest ever, so I didn't have much time to work on this. Now that it's summer, I hope to finish chapter 3 in a more timely manner! Thanks for your patience. And thanks for continuing to read.

* * *

**In Stark Contrast - Chapter 2 "Holograms"**

Kaiba wasn't one to play favorites, or so he liked to believe. But there were cases where he made exceptions. He liked to think of it as rewarding exceptional work ethic. And Dr. Masuda, head of Kaiba Corp's Research and Development department was nothing short of exceptional. Originally from Japan, he'd gone to school in the U.S. and had joined Kaiba Corp's American branch. He'd soon after transferred to the Japanese branch with nothing praise from the managers on the other side of the Pacific to recommend him.

The man had a way of thinking that set him apart from most engineers. Kaiba had promoted him to head of R&D within a year to replace Scott Irvine, who had left the company on somewhat less than auspicious terms. The major improvements in the new Duel Disk model currently being sold were mostly thanks to his innovations.

As the door to Kaiba's office opened, a young man in a lab coat stepped through. Unlike most of the managers in Kaiba Corp, Dr. Masuda didn't act as though he'd just stepped into a lion's den. He calmly stepped up to the chair in front of Kaiba's desk and bowed.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Kaiba?"

Kaiba turned his attention away from the screen in front of him. "Have a seat, Dr. Masuda."

Dr. Masuda did was he was told.

Kaiba cut straight to the chase. "What's the status of the D-90 project?"

Dr. Masuda took off his glasses and held them in his lap as he answered. "Smoothly. We've stabilized the projection further and increased the 3D resolution."

"And how's the projection system?"

Dr. Masuda hesitated for a second before answering. "Well, there are still some issues… If left on too long, the system will overheat. And the power consumption is significant…" He slipped his glasses back on. "But the chip set from Nakajima should be arriving soon, shouldn't it?"

Kaiba gazed past his interlocked fingers at Dr. Masuda. "That chip set his exactly why I called you to my office. Nakajima just notified me that the chip set was lost in transit."

Dr. Masuda froze in his seat, his easy-going and confident grin immediately gone. "Lost? In a routine post in transit from Nagoya?"

"Yes." Kaiba watched Dr. Masuda closely, looking for his reaction.

"Is there any chance of Nakajima sending a replacement?" Dr. Masuda sounded hopeful.

"Three months."

Masuda slumped in his chair, all signs of his usual confidence gone. "Everything we were doing up until this point was in preparation for that chip set. We've been pushing the system to its limits…"

"Which is why I think we should put the project on hold for those three months."

Dr. Masuda jumped up in the chair. "Three months?!"

"What was the projected power consumption decrease in this new chip set?"

"About 50-60%, Mr. Kaiba."

"Which means you're wasting power running the system now. Until we get this chip set from Nakajima, I see no reason to keep this system running."

"Then surely it's only a matter of finding the lost chip set. I'm sure they were just misplaced or–"

"Or stolen," Kaiba interrupted. "Once I've confirmed their status, I will let you know the status of the project."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba…" Dr. Masuda considered something for a second before speaking up. "But if you have time in your schedule, I could show you the progress we've made at this point."

Kaiba was about to flat out refuse before thinking better of it. "I have time two days from now. In the morning."

"That would be perfect."

"Then I will see you in two days, Dr. Masuda." Kaiba sat back in his chair. "Is there anything else?"

"Have you considered my report that I sent you last month? The one about possible alternate applications for this kind of project."

"I have, and I'll say it again: Kaiba Corporation is only in the games business. While your ideas are interesting, your ideas are all outside of the scope of what Kaiba Corporation does as a company."

Dr. Masuda's calm expression flickered for a moment, betraying a trace of annoyance. But he simply nodded. "I understand, Mr. Kaiba."

"Is _that_ all?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

"Then you're dismissed. I look forward to seeing how much progress you've made these past few months." Kaiba's grin was very slight. He _was_ truly looking forward to it. This project did have a lot of potential. Even if he would have to shelve it for a few months.

"And I look forward to showing you that progress, Mr. Kaiba." Dr. Masuda stood up and bowed. "Thank you for your time." He strolled to the office door, opening it slowly, and disappeared through it.

Kaiba turned his attention back to his computer screen. Part of him hoped that the chip set had simply been misplaced. But he knew better – it was never that simple. Nothing was ever as simple as it first seemed.

**…**

The orange, ghostly image of the arc reactor currently suspended over the work desk rotated silently as Tony examined it, his face only a few inches away. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk surface.

"If I were an international terrorist, what would I do with an experimental arc reactor…" He typed something into the holographic keyboard projected above the desk, which generated yet another arc reactor model to the right of the one currently being displayed. Tony watched the two images float in the air side by side. With a swipe of his hand, he made them overlap. After a few more moments of close examination, he sighed.

"'Just about anything,' would be a good answer. Seeing as how it's an experimental model, I'm guessing whoever got their hands on it was pretty desperate." Another swipe of his hand and the two arc reactors were separated. The computer helpfully highlighted the regions on each model where they differed in design.

The sound of the door to Tony's workshop followed by the click of a pair of heels on tile finally broke him out of his reverie. He kept his attention focused on the display as he started manipulating the highlighted parts of the images.

"Did you find out who makes that chip already, Dr. Tanaka? It's only been a few days."

Dr. Chika Tanaka, his liaison to Lab 23, answered from a few feet behind him. "It wasn't that hard. The logo on the chip was practically a dead giveaway."

"You make it sound so easy." Tony typed something on the holographic keyboard, generating yet another arc reactor model. "Who does the chip belong to?"

"The chip was manufactured by a company located up in Nagoya called Nakajima Silicon Works. They're known for developing custom computer hardware."

"But the logo on the chip wasn't theirs, was it? The initials 'KC' wouldn't exactly fit."

"No, of course not. The chip seems to have been manufactured for a game software and hardware developer called the Kaiba Corporation."

Tony's hands froze in place above the keyboard. That name was familiar. _Very_ familiar. With a quickly typed command, he cleared the holographic display, including the keyboard, and finally turned to face Dr. Tanaka.

She was dressed as she always was at work – white lab coat, black heels, her long black hair let down, and black glasses frames that just screamed "librarian." Any mental comment on her appearance today, however, was held up by far more important thoughts.

"Wait wait wait. Back up. Kaiba Corporation?" Tony took a seat on his now empty work desk and placed his feet on the chair in front of it. "They're… a weapons manufacturer, aren't they?"

Dr. Tanaka blinked in surprise at Tony's question. "Well, yes, they started out as one. If I remember right, the company changed from weapons manufacturing to game development when a new CEO took over about nine years ago." She shifted the file folder to her left hand as she adjusted her glasses. "You're familiar with them, Mr. Stark?"

Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The memory was floating back to the surface of his mind now. A smoke-filled meeting room. The man next to him coughing both out of nervousness and necessity as Tony, himself, resisted the urge to cough. Standing across the room in front of a window was an older man with his back to him. The sunlight from outside made his silhouette appear somewhat imposing. It was this man that he'd come all this way to meet with…

"You could say that," Tony finally answered. He shook his head to clear the thought. He could dwell on the past later. "Okay, so they make games now. What's that have to do with this chip?"

Dr. Tanaka took a few steps toward the desk and made a motion to hand the folder to Tony before thinking better of it. She flipped the folder open instead, read over something, and then answered, "In addition to producing game software, one of their best-selling products uses holograms extensively. From what I was able to find, the technology in that hardware is similar to this chip. Which leads me to believe that this chip was designed for generating holograms."

"But that isn't just any kind of chip," Tony pointed out. "Going by the design, it's intended for doing incredibly intensive calculations, isn't it? That isn't something you'd put in a toy or a game or whatever. It looks way too expensive to be practical for that."

"That's true. It also seems that the chip is meant to work as part of a set." Dr. Tanaka waved the folder in her hands. "This contains all of the information I gathered about the technology related to this chip and the Kaiba Corporation." She paused before adding, "Did Stark Industries ever compete with the Kaiba Corporation in the past?"

Tony shrugged. "Of course not. Kaiba Corp's Japanese. Their sphere of influence was probably just in the East Asia region. Stark Industries worked closely with the U.S. government thanks to my dad."

"So then I assume that your familiarity with the Kaiba Corporation isn't just coincidence?"

"It's kind of a long story, actually." Tony grinned. "Preferably something told over a nice dinner in a quiet restaurant–"

The sound of the folder smacking the space on the desk next to him hit Tony's ears before he could even finish his sentence. Dr. Tanaka averted her gaze as she answered, him, "As I said, Mr. Stark. The details that you need are in the folder. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. If you need me for something important, then you can find me in the Arc Reactor Station lab." She turned on her heel and marched briskly out of the room, her heels echoing down the hall as she left.

Tony rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he picked up the folder. Even he had to admit that he could've had better timing there. She wouldn't give him the silent treatment for too long after this… probably. As he flipped through the folder, a few things caught his eye. Namely some sparsely detailed schematics for things he didn't recognize. He read over a design document that was at the front of the folder.

"'Solid Vision'? I suppose if you're going to name your hologram technology something, you've got to make it sound cool." He shook his head as he continued reading. Some of the designs in the folder really were out there.

After he'd read through the folder, he made up his mind. He waved his hand to make the holographic keyboard reappear above his desk. Instead of generating the arc reactor images, he opened up his email inbox.

_Pepper,_

_There's something I need you to look into._

He continued typing out the details of the email, occasionally going back to the documents in the folder for reference. Once he was satisfied, he sent the email off to Pepper, who was still back in Stark Industries' US office. As soon as the email was confirmed as sent, Tony once again dismissed the holographic display and keyboard. His gaze turned to the Iron Man armor displayed in the middle of the room.

"No rest for the weary, I suppose…"

**…**

Kaiba watched detachedly as the numbers on the elevator's display ticked down lower. He'd just heard back from Nakajima Silicon Works regarding the status of the chips. Just as he'd suspected, all of the evidence pointed to theft. The confirmation left him in a dark mood. A theft naturally meant there was a thief, and so he'd been running over possibilities for the entire day with no success. Of course, this only made his mood worse.

The elevator finally slowed to a stop as the display blinked with a number indicating he was now in one of the lowest basements of the Kaiba Corp building. With a 'ding,' the doors slid open and Kaiba stepped through them into the hallway beyond. His shoes made a dull thud on the metal floor as he headed for the one door at the end of the hallway. He placed his hand on a panel next to it. With a yet another 'ding', the door labeled "Lab E-41" slid open in front of Kaiba.

The room beyond was a sprawling meadow set under an immaculate blue sky. The tranquil scene beyond the door seemed like another world entirely compared to the grey metal-lined hallway that Kaiba currently stood in.

As he stepped through the door, his right foot touched down on lush, emerald green grass. The hallway behind him stood out like someone had cut a hole in the scenery itself. As the door slid closed, it seemed to melt into a tall cherry blossom tree swaying gently in the wind.

There were other people in the meadow, all of them in lab coats carrying clip boards or tablets of some sort and taking notes. As they looked up to notice Kaiba strolling past, they all straightened up, some of them switching from meticulous note-taking to nervous fidgeting.

The only engineer not taking notes was Dr. Masuda, who standing on the other end of the meadow under a rather large cherry blossom that he seemed to be examining. As Kaiba drew closer, he realized that there was a terminal situated in the tree's trunk. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Masuda turned around.

"Ah, Mr. Kaiba. So glad you could join us today." Masuda adjusted his black framed glasses, his relaxed demeanor setting him apart from the other engineers in the room.

Kaiba looked around. "So this is it?"

Dr. Masuda grinned, it was as though he had been waiting for this moment. He opened his arms wide, gesturing at the entire room. "Welcome, Mr. Kaiba, to the future of Solid Vision."

Kaiba looked around the room. The projection really did give the impression that they were standing in an open meadow instead of a testing room in one of Kaiba Corp's deepest basement labs. He was impressed, he had to admit. Compared to what he had seen six months ago, this was a marked improvement. He turned back to Dr. Masuda.

"Impressive," he said.

Well aware of just how much praise that one word was coming from his boss, Dr. Masuda's grin grew wider. "Thank you, Mr. Kaiba."

But then Kaiba's impressed expression turned severe. "You've had this projection running for awhile, haven't you? How high is the power consumption right now?"

Dr. Masuda winced. "A… a fair amount," he admitted.

"The chipset was stolen." Kaiba crossed his arms.

Dr. Masuda's eyes widened. "S-stolen?! You confirmed it?"

Kaiba nodded. "I'm shifting you and your team to work on developing the new Duel Disk."

"The new duel disk?" Dr. Masuda's grin faded, giving way to confusion. "But Mr. Kaiba, this project…"

"The chipset has been delayed by at least three months thanks to this predicament. We can't be running liquid nitrogen cooled computer systems all day on top of the amount of power this system requires just to run."

"I'm aware, Mr. Kaiba, but I told you that there is still work to be done–"

"Work that you can continue later," Kaiba cut him off. "I checked with the accounting department. The amount we're paying the power company has gone up considerably. I can't afford to continue this project when it's operating in such an inefficient manner."

"B-but, Mr. Kaiba… This could be even bigger than the next model of the Duel Disk."

"It could," Kaiba agreed. "But I work with what I have available to me. This is merely an experimental project that has no commercial application as of yet."

"And it never will, if we're not allowed to work on it." Dr. Masuda's composed demeanor was slipping a bit.

"Check back with me in three months," Kaiba answered. "I have to shift around resources when I can, and I have no intention of wasting your talent, Dr. Masuda."

Dr. Masuda sighed. "Is there any chance of reclaiming the lost chip set?"

"That I don't know. I'm working with Nakajima on it right now."

"Fair enough, Mr. Kaiba. If I must, I will shelve this project. But you can rest assured that exactly 90 days from today, I will be knocking on your door."

Kaiba smirked. "I look forward to it, Dr. Masuda. Hopefully by then I'll have good news for you."

"While the project is on hiatus, Mr. Kaiba…" Dr. Masuda hesitated for a moment. "I ask you to reconsider the aims of this project. Think of all of the potential applications…"

"None of which interest me, Dr. Masuda," Kaiba answered curtly. "Kaiba Corp's main concern in games, and games only."

Dr. Masuda didn't respond and instead turned his gaze toward the ground.

"In any case, I appreciate the demonstration." He turned away from Masuda and headed for the door. "After you shut down this room, I'll have maintenance shut off power to this particular block." As he walked past the team of still nervous engineers, he watched holographic cherry blossom petals float past on a nonexistent wind.

In his mind, there was only one way of applying this technology that he cared to think about.

**…**

When Tony had arrived at his workshop with two large boxes in his arms, Dr. Tanaka had given him a strange look – the kind of look she always gave him whenever she found him doing something particularly strange.

And when he'd revealed that he needed her assistance in testing out what he'd purchased, she'd seemed even more perplexed until he'd revealed what he had actually bought – two boxes containing Kaiba Corp's well known Duel Disks and enough cards to build two full sized decks. An unmistakeable look of recognition had briefly flashed across Dr. Tanaka's face before she resignedly acquiesced to his request.

"I know, I know. It's a game for kids, but I wanted to see how this works for myself," Tony had said.

Fast forward an hour later and Tony was starting to regret his decision. After reading up on Kaiba Corp a bit more, he'd had the brilliant idea to test out their famous Solid Vision technology firsthand. All he'd had to do was go to the nearest game shop he could find, purchase two Duel Disks, and some starter decks.

Little did he realize just what it meant to play a game of Duel Monsters with this kind of set up.

Dr. Tanaka was currently standing a few meters away, her vicious Harpie Lady monster floating comfortably in the air in front of her. Her expression, currently hidden behind the cards she held in her right hand a few inches from her face, could only be triumphant, Tony imagined.

He looked down at his own hand. Two magic cards and that was it. He hadn't even managed to draw a monster on his turn. All he had was his Z-Metal Tank monster to defend himself. Today was just not his day. He looked from his dismal hand at Dr. Tanaka across the room.

"Where did you say you learned to play this game, again?"

Dr. Tanaka turned her attention away from her cards. "A friend of mine taught me a few years ago."

"A 'friend,' huh?" Tony hadn't yet had the chance to learn too much about Dr. Tanaka's personal life, but he was always willing to learn more.

"Yes, just a friend, Mr. Stark. And please keep in mind that stalling will not save you."

Just as when she was working in the Arc Reactor Station lab, she was completely focused on the task before her. Tony should've figured that she put that kind of intensity into everything she did. "You're right, Dr. Tanaka." He made sure to not show in his demeanor just how dismal his situation was. He placed one card on the Duel Disk on his left arm. "I'll place one card face down, and that's it for my turn."

"That's it, Mr. Stark? I'd have expected more from you, especially considering your situation. If that card is all that stands between you and your 1600 Life Points, I'm afraid that things are not looking too good for you." She picked a card from her hand.

"Don't underestimate me, Dr. Tanaka. That tends to be the last mistake a lot of my opponents make." Tony grinned confidently – far more confident than he actually felt.

"I'll take your bait then, Mr. Stark." Dr. Tanaka loaded a card into her duel disk. "But first, I'll take care of that pesky face down card of yours. I play Harpie's Feather Duster."

Whatever that was, Tony thought to himself, it didn't sound good.

"The only kinds of cards you would be likely to play in this situation are trap or magic cards. You make things too easy, Mr. Stark."

The card appeared on the field. As soon as it had fully manifested, feathers began to blow across the field. Tony's face down Mirror Force card was turned over and then quickly obliterated. The image of the card shattered into dozens of pixels as the feathers floated away.

Tony was starting to rethink his plan. Well, he still had his Z-Metal Tank in defense mode. And she only had one monster on the field…

"That's not all," Dr. Tanaka announced, as though reading Tony's mind. "I summon Kunoichi in attack mode."

Okay, that was definitely _not_ good.

"Harpie Lady, attack Tony's Z-Metal Tank!"

The monster obeyed, immediately springing to life, flying across the battle field, and viciously attacking Tony's monster. The Harpie's whip sliced through Tony's monster like a hot knife through butter. The Z-Metal Tank shattered into dozens of pixels, just as his Mirror Force card had.

"And now," Dr. Tanaka said with far too much enthusiasm, "that just leaves you. Kunoichi, attack Mr. Stark's Life Points directly!"

"Crap," was all that Tony could think so say. He only had 1600 Life Points after all. As the female ninja drew her sword and charged at him, Tony couldn't help but take a step back. In his mind he knew it was a hologram. Nothing more than a projected image made to fool his eyes. But damn did it ever look real right now.

The monster slashed at Tony, its sword going right through him. Despite his extensive experience with holograms telling him this wasn't real, Tony stumbled backwards into the desk behind him. As the Life Point counter on his Duel Disk audibly counted down to zero, the holographic projection of the leftover monsters and cards on the field dissipated. Tony probably would have appreciated the efficiency of it all, if he wasn't standing stunned against the edge of the table he'd bumped into.

Dr. Tanaka's heels clicked on the tile floor as she rushed across the room to his side. "Mr. Stark, are you okay?"

Tony had already noted just how realistic the holograms generated by the Duel Disks looked as his duel against Dr. Tanaka had progressed. He just hadn't factored in how realistic they could seem when they were charging at you.

"I'm fine." The stinging feel of defeat aside, he was most embarrassed at his reaction to a hologram of all things just now. He looked over to the Duel Disk on his arm. "I'm just not used to holograms that seem so… so…"

"Solid?" Dr. Tanaka suggested.

Tony nodded. "Yeah."

"It's more than just a card game for children, Mr. Stark." Dr. Tanaka smiled as she slipped the Duel Disk off of her arm.

"It's weird." Tony did likewise and set his Duel Disk on the table. "The holograms I've developed for my own work are for displaying small, detailed images. They don't need to seem substantial. So I don't have to worry about making sure that they don't flicker or that they don't look transparent. I just need to be able to manipulate them. But this technology…" Tony looked down at the Duel Disk. "It throws all that out the window. The images look incredibly real. They're not transparent in the least. It really messes with your senses."

"I imagine that's why the product is so popular."

"Oh, I don't doubt it." Tony picked the Duel Disk up again. "Something's bothering me, though. This is pretty impressive technology, I'll give Kaiba Corp that. But if this is the only application they've found for it, that's a hell of a lot of wasted potential."

"Hmmmm…" Dr. Tanaka considered Tony's question for a bit. "You aren't the first to make that argument. But haven't many said similar things about your Iron Man suit?"

Tony turned his gaze to the suit suspended in its display in the middle of the room. "Touché. But I'd still argue that this is different. Most people who say that sort of thing about my suit and the technology that goes into it are interested in the weapon potential and nothing else. I could imagine quite a few possibilities for something like Solid Vision."

"I'm not disagreeing with you. I imagine that in this case, the use of the technology is up to the one who owns it."

"The head of Kaiba Corp, in other words."

"Yes. And from what I've read, he's very passionate about the game of Duel Monsters. It'd only make sense that that's what he'd focus on."

"So you're saying he developed this amazing hologram technology JUST for a card game?"

"It seems likely."

Tony leaned back against the desk and laughed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"It's a _very_ popular game, Mr. Stark."

"That's still a myopic approach to business. Even I wouldn't be foolish enough to–" Suddenly, Tony's cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the name on the screen. "Buuuut, it seems that my lecture on sound business philosophy will have to wait. I have to take this call."

Dr. Tanaka set her Duel Disk down next to Tony's. "I was about to head back to the lab, anyway. If you're interested in testing out the Kaiba Corporation's technology again, please be sure to learn the rules of the game a bit more in detail." She flashed Tony a small smile before heading out of the room.

* * *

Comments/reviews are welcome. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3 - Anticipation

Author notes:

As I mentioned before, I mostly based the Iron Man canon I'm using in this fic on the anime. The anime borrows a few elements from the first movie, though, so there's a few canonical elements from the movies as well. The point I'm going from here is somewhere from the middle of the anime series. I'd recommend the anime, but the ending was kind of a disappointment. It started out promising, though! And I like some of the ideas it brings in.

More info in the author notes at the end.

* * *

**In Stark Contrast – Chapter 3 "Anticipation"**

The heavy-looking, polished wooden doors at the end of the hallway loomed ominously as Tony's shoes moved soundlessly over the red carpet. He hadn't been surprised to find a receptionist waiting for him, but an elevator attendant even this late in the evening seemed excessive. The whole building definitely had that feel of bureaucracy to it. Tony couldn't wait to get the hell out.

The phone call after his ill-fated duel with Dr. Tanaka had been from someone he'd been hoping to avoid having to meet with… And as he got closer to the dreaded door at the end of the hall, it opened suddenly.

A tall man in a uniform stepped out and closed the door behind himself. Tony immediately recognized who it was.

"Captain Sakurai." He was genuinely surprised. The last time he'd seen him, Sakurai was in his own specially developed suit called Ramon Zero. Tony still had a lot of questions about that, but he hardly expected to get anything out of the man. Sakurai was as loyal a military man as you could find. He kind of reminded Tony of his friend Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes… if you drained all the personality out of him and shoved a stick up his ass, that is.

"Mr. Stark." The man didn't exactly look pleased to see him, but he'd clearly been expecting him. He regarded Tony calmly.

"You're as amicable as ever, I see." Tony flashed him a grin, undaunted. "Didn't think I'd run into you here. Discussing some top secret project?"

"I wouldn't suggest keeping the Defense Minister waiting," Sakurai replied, completely avoiding Tony's question. He gestured at the door.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of spending anymore time here than I need to." He flashed Sakurai another grin. Sakurai's barely concealed annoyance only made his grin widen. "See you around." He waved at Sakurai as he stepped through the door into the office.

The office was what you'd expect for an office of a high-ranking public official. There were various pictures on the walls, a few medals decorating portions of one wall, and in the middle of the room was an enormous mahogany desk. Seated at this desk was a short, but well built man in a suit in his 60's. His hair was mostly grey and black with a streak of white going from front to back. He looked up at Tony.

"Thank you for taking the time to come all the way down to Shinjuku, Mr. Stark. Please, have a seat." The man gestured toward a large padded chair in front of his desk.

Tony did as he was told. Despite the somewhat stifling atmosphere of the room, Tony let himself relax in the chair. He wasn't going to let himself get intimidated by some bureaucrat, even considering who this was…

"You wanted to talk business, Mr. Kuroda?"

Defense Minister Kuroda shook his head. "I merely wanted to check up on you, Mr. Stark. These past few months have been hectic, after all."

Tony didn't buy it for a minute. He figured he might as well play along, regardless. "Seems like things've calmed down lately, actually."

Kuroda raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I suppose you're right. It seems that Zodiac hasn't made a move in quite awhile."

"Yeah, they haven't. It's been ages since I last wrestled with a mech." Tony grinned. "But this could just mean they have something big planned."

"Which is why we shouldn't let our guard down."

Tony nodded. "Couldn't agree more. And I have no intention to. I know you don't, either. That's why you developed Ramon Zero, isn't it?"

Kuroda's pleasant exterior faltered for a brief moment. Sounded like Tony had hit a sore spot.

"The Ramon Zero project has many objectives, Mr. Stark."

"I have to admit, I've been pretty curious about that."

"Unfortunately, that information isn't for civilians." Kuroda was smiling, but the look in his eyes didn't match the smile.

To be honest, Tony wasn't quite sure of how to feel about the Ramon Zero project yet. He didn't doubt Sakurai's skills, but… these other objectives made him wonder. It seemed that Kuroda wasn't too happy about him asking about it, either. There had to be a reason why it was a touchy subject. Well, not like it mattered. Either he could piss of Kuroda enough that he got thrown out of his office or he could just play along until Kuroda was satisfied. While the first option was tempting, Kuroda _was_ funding the Arc Reactor Station. Probably a good idea to not jeopardize that.

"Getting back to Zodiac, then. Do you have any leads on them or anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. If I wear anything, I will let you know." Kuroda cleared his throat. "In any case, I wanted to ask you how progress on the Arc Reactor Station was going?"

"Pretty well. We're making steady progress, though it'll still be at least another year before it's ready for full operation. Right now Lab 23 and I are focused on stability tests. They've been promising so far."

"Good, good. I'm glad to hear that things are going well."

Just as Tony thought he was off the hook, Kuroda's tone turned serious.

"I trust you've had no problems, then, Mr. Stark?"

"None at all," Tony replied without a trace of doubt in his voice, though the sudden change in the Defense Minister's tone had him on edge.

"I imagine you must be feeling restless. After all, you'd originally planned to retire from being Iron Man, hadn't you?"

Tony wondered where he was going with this. "I intended to focus on researching the Arc Reactor Station. As we both know, that didn't exactly work out."

Kuroda nodded, his gaze still fixed on Tony. "It is unfortunate. And I can imagine it can be hard to get away from it. To simply stop being Iron Man… that would be like giving up a part of yourself, wouldn't it?"

Tony had to admit, that was surprisingly good insight on the part of Kuroda. "Maybe. But Iron Man exists for a purpose. I don't just do it for the hell of it." Well, that was mostly true.

"Many men think that way, Mr. Stark. But some say there isn't much difference between what people call a superhero and a vigilante. The two aren't so far apart, if you think about it."

Tony froze in the chair. He had a good idea of what this was about, now. "Depends on how you apply that label. People might call me that, but I operate on my own principles."

"That's a dangerous way of thinking, some would say."

"It's worked for me thus far," Tony shot back.

Kuroda laughed. Once again, Tony found himself caught off guard.

"The way of thinking that has availed you back at home may not go as well as you might hope in this country, Mr. Stark. Your efforts as Iron Man are appreciated, but please be aware that here, people are expected to operate within reasonable boundaries."

'_I bet…'_ Tony thought to himself. "Don't worry, Mr. Kuroda. I operate well within my _own_ boundaries."

"Of course, of course." Kuroda looked amused now. "I didn't mean to reprimand you, Mr. Stark. I merely thought it was something you should keep in mind."

"I'll keep it in mind," Tony answered, keeping any sign of his annoyance hidden. Kuroda loved to say things in a roundabout way. It really pissed Tony off sometimes.

"Good, that's all I ask." Kuroda smiled at Tony, though there was a hint of something else behind that smile. "In any case, Mr. Stark, I thank you for taking the time to come down here." Kuroda stood up. "I have a car outside ready to take you back home."

Tony stood up as well. He forced a half-assed grin. "Any time, Mr. Kuroda."

They shook hands before Tony turned to leave the office. He had a feeling that Kuroda was watching his every move as he stepped out the door. As the large door shut behind him with a thud, Tony let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The short trip to the car gave Tony some time to think.

Kuroda knew about the recent incident with the truck carrying the stolen goods, that much was obvious. What was also obvious was that he didn't approve. Tony wasn't too surprised. News of that incident was bound to get out one way or another, even if he'd managed to avoid having it end up in the newspaper. Tony didn't really even care if Kuroda approved or not.

What bugged him was what this meant. What was Kuroda thinking? Why call Tony all the way to his office just to drop some vague hints that he knew what he'd been up to? Intimidation? No, Kuroda seemed to be above something as blatant as that. Perhaps he just wanted Tony to know that he was watching him. Well, Tony had figured that, already.

Tony sighed as he kicked back in the leather seats of the car. No use worrying too much about it now. Even if Kuroda was watching him, he'd do what he needed to do.

…

A team of contractors was currently busily working on the stadium grounds. From up in the luxury box where Kaiba was currently standing, they looked to be making steady progress. Eventually he'd know just how hard they were working when he went down to inspect everything himself at the end of the day. For now, he was content to just observe.

The sound of the door sliding open behind him was followed by heels clicking on the tiled floor.

"Mr. Kaiba… the cards that Mr. Pegasus donated for the charity have arrived," his secretary reported.

Kaiba kept his back to her. "Leave them here."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." The secretary set the briefcase down next to Kaiba.

The click of her heels was followed by the sound of the door sliding open and then closed again. Kaiba picked up the brief case and opened it. Seated on black felt within were four rare cards in pristine condition. To any collector, these would be quite the find. Kaiba owned three out of the four, but the one he didn't own was pretty much useless to him. Of course, if the winner of the charity drive contest didn't opt for the cards, they would go back to Pegasus.

Satisfied, he closed the briefcase and set it back down on the ground. As he was about to turn back to his view of the stadium, his phone rang.

Before Kaiba even had time to ask who was calling, he heard a girl's voice on the other end. "Helloooo, Mr. Kaiba~"

"Rebecca," Kaiba answered in a flat tone.

"I prefer Ms. Hawkins thank-you-very-much, and I see you're as enthusiastic as ever to hear from me." She sounded more amused than annoyed.

"Usually hearing from you means Kaiba Corp's been hacked," Kaiba pointed out.

"I suppose that _is_ the unfortunate part of being an IT consultant for you. Most of the time I end up having to report to you on disasters…" She trailed off. "But! This time I have good news for you."

"That being…?"

"Security system upgrade! I noticed another hole in Kaiba Corp's network security. I'm surprised, though. The coding for that particular part of Kaiba Corp's firewall… it's rather unique."

"That's because I wrote it," Kaiba answered.

"W-what?! Why do you even _have_ an IT department to begin with?!"

Kaiba smirked. "Because I can't attend to the network all day."

Rebecca mumbled a few words on the other end of the line before continuing. "Well, the system's security has been improved. I just added onto the existing code that was in place. With that tournament coming up, we wouldn't want a repeat of the KC Grand Prix, now would we?"

"No, we wouldn't." Kaiba gritted his teeth just thinking back on it. Whenever he had Zigfried, now working for Pegasus in Industrial Illusions, in a meeting, he still watched him like a hawk. "So I shouldn't anticipate any problems during the tournament, is what you're saying."

"Of course not! That's what you hired me for in the first place, right?"

"Something like that." Her talent _was_ the real deal. Dealing with her, on the other hand… at least she was only a consultant. With her teaching schedule, she couldn't work for him full time, anyway.

"In any case, let me know if there are any problems. Not that there will be."

Past evidence had shown that her confidence was not baseless, either. "I'll let you know."

"Good!" Rebecca seemed very pleased with herself. "I know how much you hate small talk, though, so I'll let you go. Good luck, Mr. Kaiba~" She ended the call there.

Kaiba slipped his phone back into his pocket and went back to watching the setup of the stadium. Everything was falling into place, at least. In a matter of days, the 7th Anniversary Battle City tournament would begin. Normally he would feel content right now… but any pleasure he could derive from the smooth proceedings of the tournament preparations was rendered impossible by the one detail eating away at him in the back of his mind: where was that chipset?

So far he had no leads on the theft, which left nothing but a bitter taste in his mouth. If there was one thing Kaiba despised, it was uncertainty.

…

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Pepper. I asked you to look into the guy, and you write me up a biography."

Pepper, who currently appeared on the large monitor on the far wall in Tony's lab, looked amused. "I didn't want to leave out any important bits of information. You've already read over all of it?"

Tony tapped the tablet he was holding against the desk in front of him. "Skimmed most of it. There's some stuff I wanted to check with you first. To be honest, some of the stuff you dug up sounds a bit…"

"Ridiculous?" Pepper asked.

"That'd be a good word for it. Like…" Tony scrolled down on the document displayed on his tablet. "What's with all the references to the occult?"

Pepper hesitated. "Well… I found quite a few blogs making the same sorts of claims, so I thought I'd include it in my report."

"Tinhat Internet conspiracy theories do make things more fun. And I'll admit, they were pretty interesting…" Tony looked back at his tablet. "Something about mysterious mishaps occurring during tournaments and ancient conspiracies?"

Pepper nodded. "It all comes down to that card game the company makes hardware for."

"Duel Monsters?" Tony thought back to the test run he'd had with Dr. Tanaka a few days ago. "Mr. Kaiba plays the game, doesn't he?"

"He doesn't just play the game," Pepper explained, sounding somewhat exasperated. "He was the former world champion. Just how much of what I sent you _did_ you read?"

"Like I said," Tony said defensively. "I skimmed. Give me a break, I only had today to go over it." Tony did do actual work during the day. Mostly. "I'll read over everything in detail over the next few days, but I want to hear your take on things first. You were saying, about ancient conspiracies?"

Pepper continued, already quite used to this by now. "Quite a few blogs mention how the game is apparently based off of a similar game that was played in Ancient Egypt 3000 years ago. As bizarre as that sounds, there's archaeological records confirming that. I double checked. Here's where it gets weird…"

"It gets even weirder?" This was turning out to be far more interesting than Tony could've imagined.

"Some sources claim that the game was real. As in, it was played with real monsters using, well… magic."

Tony considered Pepper's words. "Well, who's to say it's not true? We've both seem some pretty weird stuff these past few years. Why not ancient Egyptians playing around with magic? I mean, we already know by this point that Norse mythology wasn't entirely a work of fiction."

"Well, it doesn't stop there. During Kaiba Corp's Battle City tournament seven years ago, people reported some strange incidents happening during the tournament. Strange effects that couldn't be explained by the company's holographic technology. Some people were even injured, though the company apparently paid for all medical expenses."

"That does sound rather bizarre for a collectible card game," Tony admitted.

"And not long after that, Kaiba Corp was blamed for a few incidents where holographic images of Duel Monsters appeared in the sky all over the world. The company was later proven to not be responsible, but some people online really had a field day coming up with theories about the whole incident. Something about ancient conspiracies to bring about the apocalypse." Pepper paused to sigh. She seemed embarrassed just repeating the information. "It's pretty bizarre overall, but I thought it'd give you a bit of context.."

Tony laughed. "Okay, okay, fine, I'm not going to question your sources. And I _do_ appreciate the context. It also makes me wonder just what kind of strange rumors people are writing up about Stark Industries in the dark corners of the Internet…"

"That depends on if you're talking about gossip blogs focused on you or just plain conspiracy theories about the company," Pepper answered.

"The latter," Tony said with a small smile. "I make sure to keep up with the gossip blogs."

Pepper considered Tony's statement for a moment. "I can't imagine any of it is good." She paused. "If that's your next project for me…"

Tony laughed. "Of course not. That's something I can look into in my free time." He tabbed to another page on his tablet that contained some images. As he was scrolling through, one caught his eye. "Another thing that's been bothering me: what's with Mr. Kaiba's 80's rock star getup?"

"Huh?" Pepper checked her own screen until she saw the picture Tony was referring to. It was one of the images she'd found from the first Battle City tournament. She chuckled a bit. "Tony, I thought you wanted to know actual facts about Mr. Kaiba? His fashion sense is a bit… odd, sure, but that's not what's at issue here."

"I do, I do." Tony returned to the document on his tablet. "And I must say, he sounds like a fascinating guy. An orphan who gets adopted by the owner of the largest weapons manufacturer in Japan and ends up running the company in less than a decade…"

He'd read over the part detailing Mr. Kaiba's past, in any case. Quite a bit of the details had caught his attention.

"He didn't murder his adoptive father, if that's what you're wondering," Pepper answered. "All news sources that I found confirmed that the late Mr. Kaiba committed suicide."

"So I read," Tony thought back for a moment. To think it had been fifteen years ago… "I'm surprised, though. I never would've pegged him for taking his own life…"

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "You mean, Gozaburo Kaiba?"

Tony seemed lost in thought for a moment before finally answering Pepper. "Yeah, him."

Pepper blinked in surprise. "I thought you didn't know anything about Kaiba Corp. I mean, all the research you had me do…"

Tony shook his head. "I don't know much about the Kaiba Corp of today. I was surprised to learn that it's a game company nowadays, even. Back when I was familiar with it, it was the largest, fiercest weapons manufacturer in the East."

"So you…" Pepper looked shocked. "You knew the late Mr. Kaiba?"

"Don't look surprised, Pepper, geez." Tony shrugged. "It's not that surprising, is it? Both Kaiba Corp and Stark Industries used to operate in the same industry."

"No, of course not. It's just… you've never mentioned it."

"Obie never brought it up when you talked to him?"

Pepper considered Tony's question for a moment. "No, Mr. Stane never mentioned anything like that."

"Figures. He was pretty pissed about the whole incident."

"Incident? When was this?"

Tony set down the tablet and crossed his arms. "Oh, about 15 years ago. So it was before you joined Stark Industries."

Pepper was perplexed. "You realize that you can't just bring up a story like that and not elaborate on it, right?"

"Sorry, but the story will have to wait. It's kind of long." Tony closed his eyes and sighed. It really wasn't something he liked to think back on, for various reasons. "But I'll say this: I don't envy anyone who had to live with Gozaburo Kaiba for six years."

Pepper was at a loss for words. She hadn't seen Tony look this serious in awhile. "I'll have to remember to ask you about it later. I wasn't aware that you had past history with Kaiba Corp."

"It's nothing big. Certainly nothing life-changing." Tony picked the tablet up again. He didn't want to start dwelling on this. "Anyway, moving on."

"Well, I suppose that brings us up to today. Kaiba Corp's currently one of the top game hardware and software companies in Japan. Their most famous product is the Duel Disk, which is a specialized holographic projector used to play Duel Monsters. The price of Kaiba Corp's stock is currently priced at…"

"I read that part. I guess what I meant to say is, what should I know if I'm going to meet with the company's current CEO?"

"Ah, yes, that." Pepper took out her phone. "I checked with Mr. Kaiba's secretary. One of them, anyway. He's booked solid for the next month. It seems like our timing right now is pretty bad. There's a big tournament coming up, and he's going to be occupied with that for at least a week."

Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ah, yes. That." A flyer that the clerk at the game shop had packed with his purchase had advertised it. "This calls for a different approach, then."

"Don't tell me you're going to enter the tournament. I don't think there's much you could do other than watch at this point. I mean, it's not like you even play Duel Monsters…"

"No, not that. There's a charity drive also being held at the tournament, isn't there?"

"Oh?" Pepper started typing away at the keyboard in front of her. After a few moments, she nodded. "Ah, I see… quite an interesting list of prizes they have. But I don't think any would appeal to you. Except maybe the stock options. In any case, all entries are treated equally regardless of how much is donated."

Tony grinned. "I'm well aware of that. Let's just say I'm feeling _very_ lucky at the moment."

Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't do anything to get yourself deported from the country, Tony. Please."

Tony laughed in earnest this time. "Don't worry, what I have in mind is perfectly legal. Well, mostly legal."

"Oh really? Nothing that would put you back on Defense Minister Kuroda's radar?"

Tony's amused demeanor faltered. Did she have to bring that up? "I was never off of his radar," Tony explained. "I realized that when he called me to his office recently. As long as Zodiac's around, Kuroda will always be watching me."

"Does the Defense Minister really think you're in association with them?"

Tony shook his head. "No, but there's no mistake that they began targeting me as soon as I came here."

"Do you think they're the ones responsible for the recent theft of your prototype suit and the prototype arc reactor?"

He shook his head again. "I'm not ruling them out, but something seems different here. Usually there'd be a robotic scorpion trying to kill me by this point. And then there's that chipset that was stolen from Kaiba Corp. Zodiac isn't above stealing technology, but this time I think it's someone else…"

"And that's why you want to meet with Mr. Kaiba at all costs."

Tony nodded. "He might know something that I don't."

Pepper's look of concern only deepened. "That's all fine and good, Tony, but I warn you… What I've read about Mr. Kaiba hasn't been favorable. He's not exactly known for being amicable."

"How bad can he be?" Tony shrugged. "This is a matter of business, I'm used to dealing with huge egos."

"I don't think looking at yourself in the mirror every day counts, Tony." Pepper smiled a bit.

"Ouch…" Tony mockingly held his hand to his chest. "You don't hold your punches, do you, Pepper?"

Pepper closed her eyes and exhaled slowly as though pacing herself. "I'm simply warning you. This might turn out differently from before. And besides, you're used to dealing with people your age or older. Mr. Kaiba's old enough to be your son."

Tony checked the tablet and scrolled to the page with the profile information. "I thought that was peculiar. He's really only 24 years old?"

"Yes."

"That would mean he took over Kaiba Corp at… age 16?"

"Yes," Pepper confirmed.

Tony whistled. "Damn, is that even legal?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems that he managed it somehow."

Tony set the tablet down and kicked back in his seat, his arms crossed as he closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Well, I'll try meeting with him and see how it goes. I figure I might as well return this custom chip to its proper owner, in any case. I already did a full analysis of it over the past week. If meeting with Mr. Kaiba doesn't turn up anything useful, I'll look into other means."

"Good luck then, Tony."

Tony saluted Pepper on the monitor. "Thank you. Maybe I'll need it, who knows?"

"But you won't be needing it to win the charity drive contest?"

"Oh, I suppose." Tony grinned. "Guess we'll have to see for ourselves."

Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose again. "Just remember, Tony. If you get deported…"

"Don't worry, it's fine! I won't even be flying into Domino City."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You're going to drive all the way there?"

"I'll consider it a little impromptu vacation. I think I've earned one by this point."

"If you say so, Tony." Pepper hardly looked convinced.

"In any case, thanks for your help, Pepper. But I'd better start on packing."

"Good night, Tony." Pepper waved at the screen.

"'Night, Pepper." Tony ended the call.

Alone again in the room, Tony stood up and stretched. He had a long few days ahead of him if he was going to take a trip to Domino City. Dr. Tanaka probably wouldn't take too kindly to him taking off like this, but this was pretty much his only shot at meeting with the young Mr. Kaiba, it seemed.

Speaking of which… he checked the tablet again and opened up a tab displaying a profile picture of the subject in question. "Seto Kaiba, huh…" The man in the picture was staring ahead, his expression rather neutral. There wasn't anything particularly notable about him, save for how his piercing blue eyes were staring ahead with a force of intensity that even Tony found somewhat unnerving. For a brief moment, Tony felt doubtful. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he thought.

* * *

Ending Author Notes:

This chapter was pretty fast, even I'm surprised. I actually sort of had it written months ago. But I ended up adding quite a bit and changing around a few things.

I figured I should clarify a few things:

Zodiac is the name of the terrorist organization from the Iron Man anime. They like using Zodiac sign-themed mechs, which is ends up being kind of silly when Capricorn shows up.

No J.A.R.V.I.S. in the anime, which makes me sad. I always did like him…

The last chapter mentioned Scott Irving as working in Kaiba Corp's R&D. He is an actual character in the anime. He was the older guy watching Kaiba test out the Duel Disk and the Obelisk the Tormentor card at the beginning of the Battle City arc. He plays a big part in the Falsebound Kingdom spinoff game.

Rebecca Hawkins is an anime-only character that I really like. Towards the end of the Doma/Waking the Dragons arc in the anime, she helps Kaiba and Yugi get access to the Kaiba Corp USA building by hacking into the building's computer system. Kaiba actually seems somewhat impressed, and Rebecca tells him offhandedly that he should hire her. So I figured I'd add that in. Going by her age in the Japanese version of the anime, she's 19.

Chapter 4 will likely take quite a bit longer. These past 3 chapters have been setting up a lot, and chapter 4 is where things really start going.

Comments/reviews are welcome. Thanks for reading!


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